The Utah Film Critics announced the winners of their annual awards and it's all over the place...in a very good way! Nicholas Winding Refn's "Drive" took home the big prize, the Best Picture award. "Drive" also won Best Cinematography. Refn was the runner-up in the Best Director category which was garnered by Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist."

There were also some surprises in the acting category. Besides the usual suspects of Michelle Williams as Best Actress for "My Week with Marilyn" and Albert Brooks for Best Supporting Actor for "Drive," Joseph Gordon-Levitt scored the Best Actor Award for "50/50" while Amy Ryan took home the Best Supporting Actress Award for "Win Win."

I told you, the winners are all over the place, but it's a good thing!

Here's the complete list of winners (If you're interested to see the winners/nominees from other award-giving bodies, visit our Awards Avenue coverage right here):

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" Director to be Honored at Palm Springs International Film Festival

Thursday, December 22, 2011, 12:23 PMPosted by Manny

Stephen Daldry, the guy behind "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," will be presented with the Director of the Year Award at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). The Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 7, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Awards Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees George Clooney, Glenn Close, Michel Hazanavicius, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Octavia Spencer, Michelle Williams, and the film Young Adult. The Festival runs January 5-16.

Here's the rest of the press release:

“Stephen Daldry has garnered international acclaim as a director, bringing his consummate skill to both the cinema and stage,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In his latest work, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, he directs a virtuoso cast in the story of a young boy who, after losing his father on 9/11, goes on a quest to learn what an unusual key found in his father’s possessions may unlock. This journey then becomes a metaphor for the need of a child to maintain a close bond with a loved one who died tragically and too soon. For this haunting film and for all of his achievements as a “director’s director,” the Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2012 “Director of the Year Award” To Stephen Daldry.”

Adapted from the acclaimed bestseller by Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a story that unfolds from inside the young mind of Oskar Schell, an inventive eleven year-old New Yorker whose discovery of a key in his deceased father’s belongings sets him off on an urgent search across the city for the lock it will open. A year after his father died in the World Trade Center on what Oskar calls “The Worst Day,” he is determined to keep his vital connection to the man who playfully cajoled him into confronting his wildest fears. The Warner Bros. film is directed by Daldry, with a screenplay by Eric Roth, and stars Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn as Oskar. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was recently nominated for four Critics’ Choice Movie Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Young Actor.

Daldry is an award-winning director of both stage and screen. His first feature film, Billy Elliot, won more than 40 awards worldwide and received three Oscar® nominations, including Best Director. His second feature The Hours received nine Oscar® nominations including Best Picture and Director, 11 BAFTA nominations and won Best Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globes. His other recent feature, The Reader, earned five Oscar® nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.

About The Palm Springs International Film FestivalThe Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 130,000 attendees each year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who in recent years have included Clint Eastwood, Kate Winslet, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ron Howard, Anne Hathaway, Jeff Bridges, Danny Elfman and many others.

The Festival’s 23rd Annual Awards Gala is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Mercedes Benz and Entertainment Tonight. Renewing sponsors of this year’s Festival are Title Sponsor The City of Palm Springs and Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun, the City of Indian Wells, Spencer’s Restaurant and KPSP Local 2. Major Sponsors include Bank of America, Penfolds, Regal Entertainment, Diageo, Desert Regional Medical Center, Integrated Wealth Management, Wessman Development, Guthy-Renker, Wells Fargo, Chihuly Art Glass, and Ocean Properties Development.

"The Iron Lady," "We Need to Talk About Kevin" Among Women Film Critics Circle Award Winners

Wednesday, December 21, 2011, 11:17 AMPosted by Manny

The Women Film Critics Circle has announced the winner of its annual awards and the list is quite interesting! But as Melissa Silverstein from IndieWire asked, where is the award for Best Woman Director? But I guess by honoring "The Iron Lady" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin," both movies tied and both movies directed by women (Phyllida Lloyd for "Iron Lady" and Lynne Ramsay for "Kevin"), their respective directors are being awarded.

"The Help," directed by a man, Tate Taylor, was given the Best Movie About Women award, while the Best Storyteller went to Abi Morgan, the scriptwriter of "The Iron Lady."

Viola Davis from "The Help" won Best Actress, George Clooney ("The Descendants") took home the Best Actor trophy while his co-star, Shailene Woodley was given the Best Young Actress Award. And Melissa McCarthy continued to get more awards! This time, the "Bridesmaids" scene-stealer won Best Comedic Actress.

The Women Film Critics Circle is an association of 57 women film critics and scholars from around the country and internationally, who are involved in print, radio, online and TV broadcast media. We came together in 2004 to form the first women critics organization in the United States, in the belief that women’s perspectives and voices in film criticism need to be recognized fully.

"The Hobbit's" unexpected journey from the pages to the big screen almost did not materialize. It was mired with lawsuits, director changes, it almost did not happen...almost. (Check all your "Hobbit" news right here)

But now, director Peter Jackson is taking us there and back again and while the teaser looks awfully like "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, what do you expect? It's Middle Earth, telling the same epic adventure!

I, for one, can't wait next year, Dec. 14th to be exact, when we can witness, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." For now, feast your eyes on the trailer:

Here's more on "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Trailer" from Yahoo:

Bilbo Baggins is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

As expected, Simon Pegg adds humor to the latest “Mission: Impossible” film, “Ghost Protocol.” He was briefly seen in the third installment, but this time around, his character of Benji gets more exposure. And more laughs.

Directed by Brad Bird, a great storyteller, this new “Mission” accomplished an almost impossible mission – to make Tom Cruise cool again! This is the best “Mission: Impossible” yet! (Check out my interview with Brad Bird for "M:I 4" right here)

In this interview, we talked about:

*** His attraction to joining the fourth installment*** What he liked about his character Benji, and why his character’s relationship with Ethan Hunt is very similar to his relationship with Cruise*** What did he think when he heard that Brad Bird is directing?*** How was Bird as a director?*** Working with Cruise